One last dance in Viejas between Lobos and Aztecs

The times, they are a-changin'.

But for now, we get one last New Mexico/San Diego State men's basketball showdown in America's Finest City — at least one last time as Mountain West foes, as the Aztecs are moving to a rebuilt Pac 12 after this season and have said they have no desire to schedule nonconference games at elevation in the future.

The best men's basketball rivalry the 27-year conference has known makes its final Viejas Arena stop on Saturday night at 6 p.m. Mountain (5 p.m. local tip time in San Diego).

And while there's added intrigue with first-year Lobos coach Eric Olen and several members of his coaching staff and players on the UNM roster being from San Diego, not to mention two of the top three teams in the league standings — UNM is 15-3 (5-1 MW), SDSU is 12-4 (6-0 MW) — the real story about Saturday is about an end of an era.

Since the arena opened — before it was called Viejas and before the Mountain West even existed — the two teams have played 25 times. UNM's eight wins there are tied with BYU and UNLV for the most in that building by any opposing team.

Eleven of the 25 games have sold out at 12,414 fans.

SDSU's longest win streak vs. UNM is four in the building, UNM's is three.

Within the series, the most points scored by a player in the building was 43 by UNM's Ruben Douglas (in a 2003 loss) and by a team was the Aztecs' 97-77 win in 2019.

Refs have been a part of the rivalry, too. Verne Harris (seven) has officiated the most games there, followed by Scott Thornley (six) and David Hall and Randy McCall with five, apiece. 

Kawhi Leonard had his moments, and Jaelen House certainly had his.

Before Saturday's finale in the building (the two teams have their Pit send-off on Feb. 28), here's a look at every game between the Lobos and Aztecs in the arena:

• • •

Feb. 8, 1999 — UNM 85, SDSU 60: In the only game between the schools played outside the Mountain West umbrella, not to mention without either Steve Fisher or Brian Dutcher as head coach of the home team, UNM's Kenny Thomas had 28 points and three blocks and Lamont Long added 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in a one-sided Lobos win over SDSU coach Fred Trenkle, who would be in his final year.

Feb. 5, 2000 — UNM 78, SDSU 57: SDSU was whistled for three technical fouls, committed 19 turnovers, and shot just 33.3% in the loss.

Jan. 8, 2001 — UNM 75, SDSU 67: UNM's Eric Chatfield scored 27 points and hit 11-of-16 free throws to overcome Rand Holcomb's 22 points and nine rebounds for the improving Aztecs.

Feb. 28, 2002 — SDSU 84, UNM 71: In the Aztecs' first win over UNM in what was then known as Cox Arena, UNM's Ruben Douglas and Eric Chatfield combined for 39 points, but it wasn't nearly enough to overcome the career-high 26 points and five made 3-pointers from Al Faux as the Aztecs shot 63% in a 52-31 second half to get the win.

Feb. 24, 2003 — SDSU 89, UNM 73: Marking the first back-to-back wins over the Lobos since a three-game streak over 1985-86 seasons, UNM's Ruben Douglas went off for 43 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and was 15-of-16 at the free throw line, but SDSU's Evan Burns came off the bench to hit 12-of-14 shots and score 31 points and the Aztecs also got 21 from Tony Bland.

Feb. 2, 2004 — SDSU 72, UNM 68: SDSU's Aerick Sanders, later a longtime New Mexico State assistant, had 27 points and 10 rebounds, outdueling Danny Granger's 21 points and eight rebounds to go along with five turnovers.

Feb. 26, 2005 — UNM 78, SDSU 61: UNM's Mark Walters led the way with 20 points and the Lobos pulled away in the second half. It was the first time this rivalry broke 7,000 in attendance in San Diego.

Jan. 25, 2006 — SDSU 75, UNM 69: Five Aztecs scored in double figures and SDSU shot 60.5% to hold off UNM and Mark Walters' 25 points. This was SDSU's first Mountain West championship season.

Jan. 17, 2007 — SDSU 73, UNM 68: The Aztecs played only seven guys, but five scored in double figures. The Lobos were led by Tony Danridge's 18 points.

Feb. 13, 2008 — UNM 73, SDSU 63: Enter the Steve Alford/Craig Neal vs. Steve Fisher/Brian Dutcher era. UNM's J.R. Giddens had 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Lobos past Lorenzo Wade and Ryan Amoroso, who combined for 40 for the Aztecs.

Jan. 21, 2009 — SDSU 81, UNM 76: The Aztecs scored 18 second-chance points and got a combined 51 points from Kyle Spain (30) and Lorenzo Wade (21) to overcome the 21 turnovers the Lobos forced. Phillip McDonald had team highs of 17 points and six rebounds for UNM in the first game of this series to draw more than 8,000 in attendance in Viejas Arena.

Jan. 5, 2010 — SDSU 74, UNM 64: In the first season both teams made the NCAA Tournament (UNM was a 30-game winner and regular season champion, SDSU as the MW Tournament champion), the Aztecs defense buckled down in the second half and held UNM to to 28.6% shooting in the final 20 minutes while SDSU's Malcolm Thomas had 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Feb. 16, 2011 — SDSU 68, UNM 62: In the first Viejas sellout in this rivalry (in fact, it was just the first time it had more than 8,001 fans), SDSU's Kawhi Leonard had 22 points and nine rebounds, and Malcolm Thomas had 22 points and four blocks. UNM had a trio of double-digit scorers in Dairese Gary (18), Tony Snell (14) and Drew Gordon (13).

Feb. 15, 2012 — UNM 77, SDSU 67: In the first season these two teams finished tied for the regular season championship (and later met in the MW Tournament championship game won by UNM), UNM's Kendall Williams scored a game-high 21 points and had a technical foul, and Drew Gordon had 17 points and 17 rebounds. SDSU's Jamaal Franklin had 16 points, 10 rebounds and a technical foul in the loss.

Jan. 26, 2013 — SDSU 55, UNM 34: SDSU's leading scorer J.J. O'Brien had just 12 points, but it was plenty to beat a UNM team with a roster of Kendall Williams, Alex Kirk, Tony Snell, Cameron Bairstow and Hugh Greenwood that shot 25.0% in the game and was held to 15 points in the second half. It remains one of UNM's worst offensive performances in the Mountain West era — shockingly by a team that would end up earning a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

March 8, 2014 — SDSU 51, UNM 48: The 1-3-1 game. Arguably as memorable as any in Viejas, and the only time the Mountain West regular season championship came down to a head-to-head, winner-take-all game on the final day of the season. The Lobos led the Aztecs 41-25 with 12 minutes left in the game. Then came the 1-3-1 zone the Lobos couldn't solve. Xavier Thames had 23 points as SDSU's only double-digit scorer but Dwayne Polee II's defense at the top of that zone was just as important in the comeback, which culminated with a Viejas court storm. Cameron Bairstow led UNM with 20 points while Alex Kirk had 14 points and 11 rebounds. UNM did beat SDSU in the MW Tournament championship game a week later and both teams were in the NCAA Tournament.

Jan. 6, 2015 — SDSU 56, UNM 42: UNM's leading scorer had seven points (Obij Aget) and the Lobos shot under 30 percent (it was just 22.2% in the first half) in yet another game with the Lobos held under 50 points in Viejas.

Feb. 6, 2016 — SDSU 78, UNM 71 (OT): In the only overtime game between the two in Viejas, UNM was called — erroneously, it was later confirmed in a league-issued memo — for an illegal inbounds play with 22 seconds remaining, giving the Aztecs the ball down 3 in regulation. Malik Pope hit a contested 3 to force overtime and SDSU won in the extra period.

Jan. 1, 2017 — UNM 68, SDSU 62: Craig Neal's Lobos picked off the Aztecs in Steve Fisher's final game in Viejas in this rivalry. Elijah Brown had 22 points and UNM outscored SDSU by 17 in the second half to win.

2018: no game

Jan. 15, 2019 — SDSU 97, UNM 77: A seven-game sell-out streak in the series was broken as 10,277 were announced for this one, and they saw the most points scored by SDSU in the series with five players scoring in double figures and two — Jalen McDaniels (24) and Devin Watson (21) — reaching 20. UNM's Anthony Mathis scored 21 and drained six 3s.

Feb. 11, 2020: SDSU 82, UNM 59: SDSU improved to 25-0 in a magical season that was cut short by COVID. For the second-straight season, two Aztecs scored 20 vs. the Lobos — Matt Mitchell (22) and Yanni Wetzell (20).

2021: no game

Jan. 31, 2022 — SDSU 72, UNM 47: UNM's Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Jaelen House combined to shoot 4-for-15 and commit nine turnovers in a game SDSU physically dominated. First-year Lobos coach Richard Pitino told the Journal in a postgame interview that his program just saw the benchmark it needed to strive for in the offseason.

Jan. 14, 2023 — UNM 76, SDSU 67: UNM's Jaelen House wore the black hat. The point guard was jawing with fans and waving on the cascade of boos that poured down upon him from the sold-out crowd, all while scoring 29 points and coming up with four steals and a technical foul. The performance solidified his identity as one of the most beloved players by Lobo fans and one of the most hated by Aztec fans. 

Feb. 16, 2024 — SDSU 81, UNM 70: UNM's Jaelen House had 22 points, four steals and five turnovers and JT Toppin had 18 points and 10 rebounds, but the Lobos couldn't get over the hump in the second half. SDSU's Jaedon LeDee had 23 points and drew 10 fouls — the Lobo big men being in foul trouble may have been the biggest key to the game.

Feb. 25, 2025 — SDSU 73, UNM 65: UNM's Donovan Dent had 26 points and seven assists, but a far more balanced Aztecs squad with four double-figure scorers, including 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block from Miles Byrd, sent the Lobos home with the loss.

2025-26: Saturday

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) @GeoffGrammer.